My boyfriend and I are looking after an 8 month old bull terrier and he also owns a 4 year old boxer. The best thing we have found is to get a children's gate to put in the doorway of a room and to leave the puppy in a small room that doesn't have lots of things he or she can get into and chew up(like food, appliances, office work, bedding, sofas, etc.) We leave Dominic and Pumpkin in the kitchen where there are hardwood floors so messes are easy to clean up. We keep plenty of chewable toys such as stuffies and doggie bones in the room so they are each entertained for the long day home. If you can get away from work once a day like for lunch it is best since the puppy may need to go out a lot to use the bathroom while he is learning how to be potty trained and not make messes also remember to feed the dog before work and to take him or her outside for a walk or run after work. Routine is very important for doggies. My other suggestion is to crate train your dog, many times a dog can become more skittish in a new home if they don't feel as if they have a safe haven to retreat to. If your puppy is crate trained from the start, the crate will be a safe haven for them and they will enjoy spending time in the crate. Dominic sleeps in his crate every night and never barks or whines while he is in the crate or when it is time to go into his crate. He loves it in there and is very comfortable sleeping on his sheepskin blanket with his stuffies to chew on = )

good luck! Bull terriers are such sweet dogs and they can be rough to get used to at first but they are so rewarding to have around. Precious!

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I would put it in a kennel during the day when you are at work and let it run around the house when you are sleeping. It will probably go to sleep with you when you do. My mom keeps her dogs in their kennel during the day when she is at work and she is a school teacher, so they are in there all day long. Hope you figure everything out.

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Nine hours is an extremely long time for a puppy to be left alone. Rule of thumb is that they need to pee about the same number of hours that they are months old. So your puppy should be going out every three, maybe four hours. If you leave him alone for 9 to 10 hours a day, you are almost guaranteed to have accidents in the house, and have a very hard time with housebreaking. You really need to find some way of letting the puppy out during the day. Can you get home during lunch, or do you have a trusted neighbor that will let the puppy out for you?

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I would put it in a kennel during the day when you are at work and let it run around the house when you are sleeping. It will probably go to sleep with you when you do. My mom keeps her dogs in their kennel during the day when she is at work and she is a school teacher, so they are in there all day long. Hope you figure everything out.

I am entirely confused by this post. Are you suggesting that the puppy should sleep in the kennel all day and also sleep through the night? A non-sleeping puppy should NEVER EVER be kept in a cage for that long. And no puppy is going to sleep all day and sleep all night. Am I simply understanding this post incorrectly?

VA, if you cannot find a way to let the puppy out during the day (for example, by going home on your lunch break, or hiring someone to walk it as needed, etc.), then make sure you have wee wee pads available. As saira suggested, the pup should be kept in a completely puppy-proofed room with an abundant supply of food and water. As soon as you get home, the puppy needs to be your priority.

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I agree, the puppy does need to be priority one, and it might not have been a great idea to bring a high energy pup into a household where it will be left alone the majority of the day, maybe rescuing an older dog would have been a better idea... but that's not the case, so let's see what we can do. I agree that kennel training is a must, but not for that long, maybe while you go to the store once you are home. As for the long hours you're away, I recommend the bathroom, keep the light on, shut the door, give the pup lots of toys, maybe a kong filled with puppy peanut butter or something, and make sure you're giving your pup a designated area to poop/pee like a wee wee pad, otherwise your chances of getting this dog housebroken is slim. Then I would also look in the paper, and on craigslist for a puppy walker, with certification that can come and walk your dog for an hour or so during the day.
When a dog is alone and confined like that it isn't able to relieve any of it's energy, and will act out once your home, get overly excited, not listen, and this is a problem dog, and most people can't handle, don't realize it's their fault, and take the pup to a shelter. Make sure once you are home you're taking this dog on a serious play date, long walk, bike ride, hour or so of catch, and then training. Hope this helps, everyone has really good answers!

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